We read alot about catch and release on forums and magazines,but noone says actually how they do it apart from"wet your hands"so if you have a fish on how would "you" practice good catch and release.?

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Kevin

Well,all my flies are de-barbed as a matter of course now,I never use a net,try and bring the trout in as quickly as possible,usually the only time i touch the fish is when i release the fly from the mouth of the fish,by holding the lower jaw of the fish with my left hand,remove the fly with my right,if the fish doesn't immediatley take off,i will hold it steady with my right hand until sufficiently strong to swim away.

As I asked I will say how i do it as i know some will hold back on this one in fear of abuse and a forum is all about learning.

As Cowie says play the fish and bring it in as quick as possible,debarbed hooks,when the fish is close enough so you can reach and grab hold of the leader with your left hand (if right handed, use opposite if left handed) take the strain off the rod by putting it down to the side,which then gives you a free hand and also takes the pressure off the rod and the fish is not left "hanging" and you wont break the tip off as sometimes happens,Then use a hand over hand movement down towards the fish and using either your finger or forceps grab the hook and release it and the fish will swim away.If it doesnt,wet hands and comfort fish moving back and for till it kicks and swims away.Always make sure that it swims away into clear water and not into weeds as if a rainbow has its eyes covered by weed it will just lie there and not move and die.Only time to touch it is if it doesnt swim away.

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Kevin

As I'm from a coarse fishing background I would usually have a unhooking mat. However, I would only use it if I needed to weigh the fish or if it is too steep a bank to unhook in the water.

In an ideal situation I would unhook the fish in the water, hold it with one hand and use forceps to remove the hook unless I can easily reach it. Support the fish until it can swim away strongly, if necessary pushing the fish through the water to try and get some flow through the gills.

EDIT: I started writing this before mff posted so this is my way of unhooking fish.

Barbless of course, un-hooked in the water or if necessary in the net. carefully support fish upright facing into current until it decides it wants to go. If you get a bl**dy good soaking when it does, you know that you have done it correctly........birdsnest

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Fear not if I steal from your side, as of yore, from paradise streams to fish Teifi once more.
BN based in Wolverhampton

I generally pull the line in by hand when the fish is close (if i'm using a long leader) and providing it isn't still fighting much I can usually get my fingers on the fly , and quick twist and its off. If its starts bellying up I'll grab it round the tail and hold it gently swaying until it "kicks off". With a short leader I can usually get to the fly without having to put my rod down.

Now I have on more than one occasion managed to hook my hand doing this so its not always possible - depending on the terrain and if the fish is determined to go through its entire repertoire of backflips and triple salco's. I sometimes handle them (hand wetted first) or net them. Netting is a good way of getting a tricky hooking out or if they've managed to tangle.....I know its not the best for the fish but sometimes there ain't no option.

There's a bit too much "tut-tutting" about C&R , handling etc IMO.....if you are really hung up about not doing anything whatsoever that might be potentially harmful to the fish then I suggest you take up photography.

I'd say the vast majority of fly anglers show respect to their quarry and do try to give the fish every chance to go back unharmed - but the reality is we are hunting trout , its the thrill of the hunt and capture (to a point)....I doubt any of us derive pleasure from the "kill". But in reality hunting a trout isn't going to do the trout any good.......catch and release is a good workable compromise (its not perfect granted - but then no system ever is).

In most instances I play the fish to hand and then grip the fly and allow the fish to flip off. When trout or grayling fishing I fish 100% barbless which makes this an easy process.

In the event that the fish is not able to swim away I support it in the water until such time that it can.

If I have any doubt about my ability to do this I net them and hold them in the wet net whilst I unhook and allow them to recover but don't actually handle the fish if it can be avoided.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

[QUOTE=sewinbasher;297268]In most instances I play the fish to hand and then grip the fly and allow the fish to flip off. When trout or grayling fishing I fish 100% barbless which makes this an easy process.[QUOTE]

Same for me. No need to net them most of the time if its in the scissors and barbless. Just grip the fly and the fish will remove it itself. My barbless flies last longer too.

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http://wanderingangler.blogspot.com/

I completely agree with you and I applaud you having the chutzpah to bring it up. Almost all discussions of C&R handling tend to turn into Holier Than Thou festivals of pious tut-tutting and oneupmanship.

Which, obviously, takes away from where the focus should be: There is a 100% mortality rate for fish that are caught and killed.

Reasonable steps should be taken to play and handle fish carefully and to avoid unnecessary injury to the fish. It's that simple. Use a knotless net, play the fish firmly, but carefully, and release it as quickly as possible. It's that simple.

There's no need for special "fish-handling" gloves or other bizarre devices. And no, there is no truth to the rumor that "removing the protective slime" coating by touching a fish causes death. That is a complete urban legend and has been debunked hundreds of times by fisheries biologists.

The three most reliable large-scale studies on the survival rates of C&R salmonids engaged in vastly more handing and subjected the fish to more trauma than any angler would. The fish were caught, played, kept in a holding pen for up to 3 hours, had blood and tissue samples taken while they were kept out of the water, and had radio tracking devices injected into them.

The survival rates were still 95-97% for all studies. And this does not take into account the fact that the normal year-on-year mortality rate is not known, so effectively if that were known and factored in, the mortality rate would probably be near or even below 1%.

Grouse

Cheers Grouse ....your points are well made....

I think a well designed poster - "Catch and Release Handling" could be produced and displayed at every fishery showing the recommended methods could be a big step as I suspect a lot of bad mishandling comes from newbie/young or in-experienced anglers.

Perhaps even one of the big angling retailers (GAC , Airflo , Masterline , Fishtech , Orvis etc etc) could produce/sponsor it....anybody got any good contacts ?????